[Barry Buternowsky (OP)]

I wonder who had the most inventions that we wish had never been invented.

Perhaps a good candidate is Thomas Midgley:
- CFCs
- leaded gasoline

Eventually strangled to death by his own invention.

Barry

[Chemistry4me]

Who ever 'invented' MacDonalds!!

[Don_1]

Who ever 'invented' MacDonalds!!

I get the strangest idea that could have been a chap by the name of.......... MacDonald

[Don_1]

Perhaps Oppenheimer might be a good candidate.

[Chemistry4me]

Next thing you'll be telling me a McChicken burger has chicken in it!

[Don_1]

Chicken in a McChicken burger...... I wonder if McDonalds ever thought of that?

Nah! That idea is as daft as putting beef in a Big Mac.

Personally, I don't like big macs, I much prefer a small overcoat.

[geo driver]

macdo's is up the in my most hated establishments.  did you no there are more macdonalds per head of population in france then any other placde in the world.... there everywhere

[wolfekeeper]

I imagine the guillotine was up there as one of the more controversial.

[Pumblechook]

There are more MACs in the UK.

[Bored chemist]

The photo-chromic lightbulb.

[Kerry]

I've just written a piece on Midgley - although he's widely credited with inventing CFCs and TEL, he wasn't alone; Charles Kettering played a big role. And to be fair to Midgely, he was only doing as he was told!

What people don't realise is he did a lot of other work on rubber and vulcanisation, which he considered to be his best work.

He never knew of the damaged TEL and CFCs caused to the environment because - as pointed out - he did unfortunately strangle himself in a system of pulleys he created to help him get in and out of bed after contracting polio.

[wolfekeeper]

Lead in petrol is still causing problems. Chocolate has very high levels of lead because chocolate husks are uniquely capable of soaking it up, and they still use leaded petrol in the countries where it's produced.

Chocolate is actually significantly toxic because of this, you can get lead poisoning if you eat a lot of chocolate.

[Bored chemist]

Lead in petrol is still causing problems. Chocolate has very high levels of lead because chocolate husks are uniquely capable of soaking it up, and they still use leaded petrol in the countries where it's produced.

Chocolate is actually significantly toxic because of this, you can get lead poisoning if you eat a lot of chocolate.

And your evidence for this is...?

[wolfekeeper]

It's actually moderately well known:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_chocolate#Lead

[sittingoverhere]

Who ever 'invented' MacDonalds!!

I get the strangest idea that could have been a chap by the name of.......... MacDonald

The original restaurant idea was developed by the McDonald brothers but it was a little burger place in California. The monster it has become is due to Ray Kroc who opened the ninth "McDonald's" and bought out the brothers along with their patented "Speedee Service System" that replaced short order cooks with a assembly line of barely pubescent teens.

The wikipedia page covers it a little but otherwise there is a great book called Fast Food Nation that goes into the history of fast food. Interesting stuff.

[SeanB]

McD, a place that serves cardboard food packed in cardboard ( they taste the same) guaranteed to taste the same no matter where in the world you are. Last time I ate there was 2000, changed to a locally owned chain , it just tastes better. Anyway, of the 4 outlets that opened here when McD came to S Africa, only 2 survive still. One serves the top end of the market and the other the bottom end - cheap food made fast and sold cheap, and a lot of targeted advertising to children to get them to buy it.

[childtexts71]

Who ever 'invented' MacDonalds!!

hahaha
I vote for tobacco.

[Airthumbs]

Come on folks, I think that this is an easy one!  It has to be either the Nuclear bomb or Guns!  Although the potential for a nuclear winter seems to have been looming over our heads for quite some time I suspect that guns are responsible for more unhappiness then any other artifact in human history therefore making them without doubt the worst invention ever.  Of course if your American then you probably sleep with them and have a little shrine in your gun cupboard that you worship from time to time!  [xx(]

[CliffordK]

Perhaps Oppenheimer might be a good candidate.

Come on folks, I think that this is an easy one!  It has to be either the Nuclear bomb or Guns!

Whoever thunk up the idea that one could ever win an arms race?

Leonardo da Vinci was a most unique inventor, yet many of his ideas were far from being practical.

[Airthumbs]

CliffordK, I have to say that this flying machine isn't that far off from a design of a modern day hang glider..

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